Williams technical director Sam Michael says they don't yet have the pace to challenge Ferrari and McLaren.
Tech boss plays down pre-season pace
Williams technical director Sam Michael has said they don't yet have the pace to challenge Ferrari and McLaren for race wins, despite impressing to pre-season testing.
With Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima behind the wheel of the all-new Toyota-powered FW30, Williams has produced some impressive lap times so far.
During the most recent test at Jerez, Williams finished in the top four on all four days, with Rosberg and Nakajima coming home in second and third place on day three of the test.
However, despite such promising outings, Michael is of the belief that the FW30 is not yet capable of winning races.
"We've got a good reference but we're definitely not quick enough to go and win grands prix, which is what our target is," he told
Autosport.
"We're still far enough from McLaren and Ferrari that we need to take some big steps to compete with them.
"But the car's a good step on from where it was last year, and we finished the season relatively strongly. If we can keep going in that direction then that is the most important thing."
Predictions
As to where Williams will be in the pecking order, Michael says it's too early to make any real predictions.
Nevertheless, he did suggest that BMW Sauber might be leading the chase to the leading pair, in spite of their early struggles with the balance on their F1.08 car.
"It's always difficult to see other team's problems because they're not always visible from the outside. And you think they're major problems but there will be other things behind the scenes," Michael added.
"I don't think BMW have much of a problem looking at their lap times in the last day of Valencia and all the way through Barcelona.
"They are competitive - they may not be where McLaren and Ferrari are but they're definitely at the front of the chasing pack."
